The original class action lawsuit was filed in 2001 in San Francisco by female employees who alleged that they received less pay and fewer promotions because of their sex. Lawyers pursuing the case obtained class action status, covering more than one million Wal-Mart employees nationwide, Bloomberg noted.

Wal-Mart contested the national class action status, arguing that the claims were local in nature.

The Supreme Court dismissed the nationwide class action status, ruling that the plaintiffs hadn’t established evidence that the company discriminated at all of its operations. The case was returned to the lower court.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that the plaintiffs could continue the suit since they had reduced its size to between one and several hundred thousand Wal-Mart employees.

Wal-Mart had argued that the new number of plaintiffs was still too high and did not comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling. However, the California judge rejected the company’s bid to have the suit dismissed and put off a decision regarding certifying the suit’s class action status.

At an earlier hearing, Breyer expressed concern that the plaintiffs couldn’t establish that the company had engaged in discrimation across California.

A new hearing on the class action status of the case has been set for February.